scarlet_discord | For lastvoyages Twenty-sixth Hex (video+spam for library)

[private to Nathan Hendricks]
[Wanda has taken to emblazoning her artfully shredded summer t-shirts with various legends on them in permanent ink. Today's T-shirt states in broad strokes: FUCK MY LIFE. That about covers it. Her expression is cold, closed and tired.]

Yeah, uh...between my deadbeat ex showing back up, and the latest serenade by Ned Flanders With Fangs, I think I'm gonna need that second prescription we were talking about.

[Not to mention the after effects of having to stop a rampaging werewolf, warden a Warden, and cover up a murder. But she's never bringing that up.]

...badly.

[spam for Library]
[She gets claustrophobic sometimes. It's the result of growing up in a goddamn cell; sometimes she has to leave her room for a while just to prove to herself that she can. So even though she really doesn't want to deal with most people right now, she finally emerges. After doing lunch shift, eating, and feeding and running her dog, she takes a long shower, then changes and proceeds with hair still damp to the library.]

[There, she gathers together several books on real and fictional magic, and starts looking through them for more ideas. If the real limit of her power is her imagination, then it's time to think bigger. She takes notes as she pages through, a look of cold determination on her face.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

cujothebigreddog

You want to drop by my cabin? I got your request in to the infirmary, but I also wanna talk about how you're feeling safety-wise and how we're gonna deal with the guy being back.

From:

scarlet_discord

On my way. [She pulls her boots on, but pauses when he mentions safety issues.]

Safety issues? We can talk about them, but the dude would never physically hurt an innocent person, he's not the type. He just broke the hell out of my heart is all.

From:

cujothebigreddog

Okay. That kind of ex.

[Not the restraining order kind. Good.]

I got the request in with the infirmary, you should get a contact from a lady named Aya soon. She says there's a risk of interactions but as long as you take it slow you can do a trial. If she doesn't follow up, lean on her, and if she doesn't listen to you, have me lean on her.

From:

scarlet_discord

Yeah, no, seriously. That's the only thing he ever did wrong. It's just that it was a big wrong.

[spam]
[She knocks on his door fairly promptly, her manner tense and subdued.]

From:

cujothebigreddog

[Hendricks is waiting with some tea going. He waits till she's inside with the door shut.]

How's it been? Fucking explosion mushrooms notwithstandin'.

From:

scarlet_discord

I actually thought we made a pretty good team, the three of us. Also Fozzie minds you; usually he only rolls over for me.

[A sigh. She finds herself tempted to tell him about the mess with Red in confidence, but...Red was desperate and Tommy was adamant.]

The obsessive thoughts are clearing up some. Been keeping the journal, keeping up on everything period. No social life to speak of. I'm just not very good company. I'm helping a couple people learn meditation, like I promised Iroh I would. I still get foul moods, but my powers haven't broken loose from me in about four months now. Probably because fear is my big trigger and I'm nowhere near as scared with my powers back.

But the current stuff...

[Her face falls.]

Luke Cage was the guy who rescued me from that kidnapper. He was everything I thought I wanted to be. A down-to-earth, badass hero with his personal shit together. He protected me when my own Warden was failing hard at it. I fell for him. I believed if I acted more adult than I actually was I could get him to really like me, and so...

...but a few months after we became lovers, he simply...up and vanished. No word, no nothing, just gone. Like it meant nothing. Like my safety meant nothing either.

[She hesitates.]

It was all consensual, but it all happened for the wrong reasons, there wasn't any love, and he just...left. Broke me pretty bad for a while.

As for the Reverend, not only does he hit every nerve I have about smiling, besweatered Jesus-sellers, but I would bet anything that he's a goddamn fake like almost all of his kind. And he's from the same world and race as my kidnapper.

From:

cujothebigreddog

That's unfortunate. Him being the same race-- even when that comes with some bodily-alteration baggage-- isn't a thing you can let bother you. Proselytizing, on the other hand, that's a choice. I'm not big on pushy religious types. Anyone whose dogma includes 'harass others until they fall in line,' really.

[He spreads his hands.]

He's not allowed to give you religious shit and I am your handy backup blunt object if he does. Otherwise... gotta live and let live. Unfortunately, being a wannabe televangelist isn't a crime.

Now about Luke. Did you guys have an arrangement made? Were you supposed to go with him, any promises?

From:

scarlet_discord

The vampire part isn't the issue. The issue is reminding me of Franklin in vague ways, you know?

I can handle him...I think...but the temptation to cut loose and yell at him--and Luke--was so huge I figured I had better talk to you.

About Luke, I...well, I could always depend on him, I just...felt like I had to give him something in return for looking after me. Something that would make him want to stay instead of abandoning me like my Warden had. But then...he went anyway. There was no verbal sex-for-protection arrangement or anything prisony like that. I just felt so unsafe that I didn't feel like I had a choice but to try.

I don't blame him for anything but leaving. If I had a real reason to blame him for the rest I would be in his face instead of here. But I feel bad about the whole situation because...I really felt I had to do that to myself to earn protection.

From:

cujothebigreddog

I'm glad you came. It's nothing we can't handle but I'm hoping I can help some with the emotional backup side of it.

[He frowns as he listens.]

That's another reason I wanna make sure you're feeling safe these days. I want you to be able to make judgment calls based on rational thinking, not fear responses. Now, he probably doesn't see it the same way you do-- that doesn't make your experience any less valid. But if he reacts differently, it's probably not out of malice.

You good to talk to him, or are you gonna be trying to avoid him? I can help with either.

From:

scarlet_discord

Thanks.

[She thinks about it, and lets out a long sigh.]

It's kind of hard for me to feel safe here even with my powers. Every day I have to deal with the fact that there is a Magneto here. The man's a complete asshole, he may well grow up to be my father, and various extremely stupid people have advocated giving him back his full power. Every damned time I see him while on shift or in the halls I know--I know that he's going to do something terrible. To me, to everyone. It's in his damn nature.

The only consolation I have is that I was stronger than him even when I was a little kid.

[Another pause.]

I don't want to talk to him, or see him, or deal with him. But every damn time a Warden tries to forbid someone from seeing me, like Magneto, they deliberately seek me out. So let's just say that I don't want to but I'm trying to prepare to deal with it anyway.

From:

megamind

[ Megamind totally knows how growing up in a cell goes; but he doesn't find it uncomfortable. No, while the cabin that the Admiral has set him up in is just enough left of normal to be disconcerting, it's still closer to home than anything. ]

[ But here he can go to the prison library-- something long denied him at the prison at home due to being an escape artist-- and so he does. He doesn't really look for anything in specific-- mostly cataloging what's here in that big brain of his, moving between the stacks and muttering to himself audibly. ]

[ That 'quiet please' sign is totally only a suggestion and he's ignoring it. ]

From:

scarlet_discord

[Wanda raises her eyes from Volume 1 of Fullmetal Alchemist and lifts an eyebrow. It's the new guy, the one who might be a mutant or alien. Grandiose, this one, but she remembers some of the things he said in his network post.]

[She considers him, then gestures briefly. A copy of The Anarchist's Cookbook slides out slightly to get his attention. She's not being very subtle about it. You can learn a lot about a person by what they like to read.]

From:

megamind

[Subtle is for weenies.]

[Notice he does, though, and he draws over -- he hasn't bothered changing his suit out yet-- the boots and gloves are still good, after all, even if the suit itself is ripped, and he will ditch the busted up spiked collar when you tear it from his broken neck, okay? So still a bit battle-fresh, but... apparently, better than he was before. If only just a little. ]

[ He brushes the covers, and smirked. ]

I graduated from the small stuff years ago, kid. But it's a good starting point, if you're looking into the wide world of villainy!

[ Now he needs to find a pen, so he can t otally vandalize the book any make notes on how to better cook... well, just about anything in the book, honestly. He's a criminal, yet helpful! ]

From:

scarlet_discord

[She didn't know why, but she kinda liked this dude, even if he did call her kid. He seemed...fun. Certainly interesting.]

It's Wanda. Oh really? Maybe you should come up with a book of pointers. Though I would probably only be considered evil by conservatives and the obsessively law-abiding. I'm kind of more of a Han Solo than a Darth Vader.

[She pointed out the tears, and said] Looks like your uniform took a beating for you. I could fix that in about five minutes while you're standing here.

From:

megamind

Pfft, Han Solo.

[ Megamind finds a pen and starts, in fact, doodling in the books. Because he can. Take that, stupid boat! Take that indeed! His spidery scrawl is going to be a pain to read -- no real formal education at all up until he started doing distance learning through the prison, and even then, well. Let's just say remote college only goes so far in improving certain skills. ]

Darth Vader was where it was at until he goes crisis of heart and saves Luke.

[ But he looks up, blinking. ] What? You can? How? [ You don't exactly look seamstressy, Wanda. ]

From:

scarlet_discord

Yeah, but Vader was just as enslaved and constricted by his path as the Jedi. More even. People in the middle of the spectrum have more flexibility. Treat your friends well, and your enemies...heheh. [A faint gleam in her eye.]

[She shrugs and holds up a finger, the tip of which glows blue.] Healing up those tears is a simple matter for someone like me.

From:

megamind

[ Second person to bring up being 'beholden' to evil, as it were. Megamind doesn't like it, but he doesn't say anything about it just yet. ]

[ He's way more interested in the fact that her fingers glow. ]

That's novel. How does it work?

From:

scarlet_discord

"Well, in my world humans are taking an evolutionary jump. Kind of piecemeal; some kids are born mutants, some are not. We have a lot of genetic variation. Some look completely human, some are furry, some have scales, some are different colors. I can pass for human...but I don't try. I'm proud of my heritage.

"Each mutant has a genetic gift of some kind. Mine is the ability to manipulate magic without circles or incantations or any of that stuff. I use them sometimes, like a hacker falling back on standard programs, but mostly I do my own thing.

"And since leather's damn expensive, I thought I'd offer."

From:

megamind

Hand crafted leather.

[ He sighs, running his fingers over the mantle. It's a wonder he didn't put his eye out with the spikes, but hey. ]

Custom made, hand-crafted, the works. The cape's a tatter of it's former glory. Minion really outdid himself. But he has no powers-- just immense skill. I certainly don't have magical powers, either.

[ But they're still super awesome, and she better not forget it. ]

I am Megamind, magical girl. Give me your name?

From:

scarlet_discord

You had a sidekick? Sweet. [She stands up and walks around the desk to him, and starts using her finger to zip up the slashes and "redraw" the broken spikes.]

Megamind, huh? Good codename. I'm called the Scarlet Witch, but Wanda's fine.

What's your opinion of this place so far?

From:

megamind

[ Wanda is the first person he doesn't want to throttle on the ship. She's helpful, she's a little bit bad -- and she might be properly moldable into a make-do Minion. No one can really replace his Minion, but still. Good help is hard to find. ]

In the vernacular? It sucks. This isn't even a proper prison. I mean, I've been here a day and nobody's gotten shanked.

[ He's been in the prison system a long time. ]

Scarlet Witch. Eh, one syllable too long. Not enough alliteration. Wanda will work.

So what are you reading up on? [ He tilts his head, and then adds ] Don't forget the cloak; that thing was hand sewn.

From:

scarlet_discord

Yeah, I was locked up early myself, and I gotta tell you, if there weren't considerable differences I would have exploded by now. Murders average one or two a week, depending on what's going on. Sometimes things get so bad that the Infirmary fills up with people Death Tolling. Which sucks, but at least they get to come back.

[She gestures to the stack of books.] I came to the realization the other day that technically I don't have to be trained in actual magic, I just have to draw inspiration from different sources and come up with stuff on my own. So right now I am reading the awesome but very bleak Manga, Fullmetal Alchemist.

Oh no, I won't forget the cloak. There's a tradition to be maintained. [She brushes her fingers over the rags, which start to lengthen and knit together.]

There we go.

From:

megamind

Did you say "ccme back"?

[ Information he didn't have. Wanda was very useful, and her own track record complimented his own. He smirked a little, and then add. ]

Well, dear, nobody's been in prison as long as I have, from as young as I have.

So what's your plan on getting out of this dump?

From:

scarlet_discord

Yeah, I did. Has no one given you the rundown of this place? I swear. Chromie tries, she made an orientation post on the Net, but so many of these Wardens just can't be bothered.

[She sits back down.]

Death here is impermanent. Inmates can be called back by Wardens and Wardens pop back alive after like an hour. After that you feel really sick and crappy for about a week.

[She frowns. She actually doesn't like the idea of some guy being dumped in a cage as a little kid, because how could he have done anything to deserve that?] Well, I can't argue that, but I can relate. My captivity was from the age of eight on. Technically it hasn't really ended yet.

[His last question makes her expression darken further. She lowers her voice.] Either get around his insane Catch 22 requirements so I can graduate, or continue building and training my powers until I'm strong enough to challenge the Admiral directly. There are some really all-right people here, but that guy...needs to be put in his place.

From:

megamind

I passed on her 'informational pamphlet'. [ He was getting more and more convinced this wasn't a prison, it was a semi-organized riot of 'well intentioned' bullies and their victims. ]

[ He doesn't talk about his childhood behind bars -- it's not a prison time contest, and if it was he'd win anyway -- and instead just nods and listens as he watches his costume reform. It's truly an impressive thing with that tall collar, vest-cloak and those amazing gloves and boots, but... utterly impractical. It's about performance, though. Impression. Being bad and looking good doing it. ]

Sounds like we need a good, old fashioned Standford Prison Riot. Zimbardo would approve, I'm sure.